PHOENIX _ Given the way things have gone this season for Vince Velasquez, it might have seemed like Monday night's performance came straight out of left field.
Really, though, it had been building for a while.
Making his seventh start since reentering the Phillies' rotation _ and the first since his impressive left-field cameo last Friday night at Citizens Bank Park _ Velasquez completed seven innings for the first time in almost exactly a year. He held the Arizona Diamondbacks to two runs, too, and the Phillies emerged with a series-opening 7-3 victory here at Chase Field.
In so doing, the Phillies inched ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and remained tied with the Washington Nationals atop the National League wild-card standings.
The Phillies scored at least one run in six innings. They took the lead in the third on consecutive hits by Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura after Rhys Hoskins had reached base on catcher's interference. It was the kind of rally that hasn't happened enough since the first month of the season, one that was fueled by their best hitters reaching base in succession with the efficiency of an assembly line.
But although the Phillies finished with 13 hits, it was Velasquez who set the tone. He appeared energized after his turn in the outfield in the 14th and 15th innings three nights earlier, in which he threw out a runner at home plate and nearly cut down another. He bounced around the mound and made an alert and athletic play on a bunt in the fifth inning. He also held the Diamondbacks to six hits and two walks, pitching to contact and getting through seven innings for the first time since Aug. 3 of last season against the Miami Marlins.
Most importantly, though, Velasquez kept the ball in the ballpark.
The Phillies have worked with Velasquez on elevating his fastball above the strike zone to allow fewer home runs. In his last three starts, he has given up four earned runs and only one homer in 17 2/3 innings. He has a 3.68 earned-run average in his last seven starts and has given up eight homers, although four came in one game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It took all of five pitches for the Diamondbacks to jump out to a lead against Velasquez, who gave up a leadoff triple to Ketel Marte and an RBI groundout in the first inning.
But once the Phillies tied the game on Scott Kingery's solo homer in the second inning _ in his return to his native Phoenix _ and took a 3-1 lead in the third, Velasquez settled in and made sure that it held up.
Velasquez had help, of course. In the third inning, center fielder Roman Quinn hauled in Eduardo Escobar's sacrifice fly, then made a strong throw to third base to cut down David Peralta. Hoskins and Segura turned a nifty 3-6-3 double play in the fourth inning. And in the seventh, Adam Haseley cut across left-center field and made a nice catch to steal a hit from Carson Kelly.
But the best play came from Velasquez himself. With two on and none out in the fifth inning, he jumped off the mound to field pitcher Merrill Kelly's bunt, wheeled around and fired to third base to get the lead runner before Kingery threw to first to complete a double play.
The Phillies tacked on runs in the fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Cesar Hernandez, Harper, Segura, Kingery, Haseley and Quinn finished with two hits apiece.
